An age-old problem encountered by fishermen and -women the world over is how to easily tie a knot to secure a fish hook to a line. There are many known, effective knots for securing fish hooks to lines, but they all require a fairly high degree of dexterity and patience to tie. When fishing for small and medium sized fish, for example trout, the fishing line which is attached to the hook is typically small in diameter, and made of transparent nylon. For example, a common hook used in fly fishing is a number 16 hook, which is approximately 0.375 inches long. A common leader line (or "tippet") used for such a hook is number 3.times. leader, which has a diameter of approximately 0.008 inches. Given that most persons have thumbs and fingers which are 0.50 inches wide and more, it can be quite difficult to manipulate the line to properly form the knot, and even more difficult to see if the knot is being properly formed. As expected, an improperly formed knot can result in the hook becoming disengaged from the line.
Adding to the problem is the fact that the most effective knots are typically the most complex knots. The general problems of manipulating the line and seeing the knot are thus exacerbated when forming the knot involves several process steps. In addition, fishing line is typically manufactured from nylon, a strong but relatively stiff material. This stiffness makes it difficult to keep the tag end of the line in place while attempting to form the knot--that is, the knot wants to "untie" since the stiffness of the nylon line tends to straighten the line.
One prior art apparatus for assisting in the tying of knots is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,106,417. FIG. 1 depicts an isometric view of this prior art apparatus. FIG. 2 depicts a side elevation view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 being used by a user to tie a knot. With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the apparatus 10 includes a tapered portion 12 on which the knot is formed, and an opposed portion 14 for supporting the hook "H" while tying the knot. The knot is formed by passing the standing end of the line "L" (i.e., the end of the line connected to the source of the line, such as a reel or spool) through a "U" shaped passageway 16 formed in the tapered portion 12 of the apparatus. The hook "H" is secured to the opposed portion 14 of the apparatus, and the line is looped through an eye "E" in the hook "H" and directed back towards the tapered section 12. This provides a free end, or "tag end", "La" of the line, which is manipulated to form the knot. This is accomplished by wrapping the tag end "La" around the tapered portion 12 a number of times as depicted in FIG. 2, and then passing the tag end through the "U" shaped passageway 16 in a direction away from the hook "H". The wraps of the line are then slipped off of the tapered portion 12 of the apparatus and cinched down onto the eye "E" of the hook "H". The knot which is formed is known as an end-tie.
As is evident from FIG. 2, in order to wrap the tag end "La" of the line "L" around the tapered end 12 of the apparatus 10, the user must use a hand-over-hand type of motion to wrap the tag end around the standing end of the line. This requires grasping the tag end "La" of the line and making a wrap, releasing the tag end and grasping it again from the other side of the apparatus, making another wrap, and so on, all of which requires a relatively high degree of manipulation of the line while forming the knot. Further, as indicated previously, nylon line is relatively stiff and will thus tend to unwind from the tapered portion when released by the user while repositioning the hand. This can be avoided by holding the tag end in place with the index finger "I" of the other hand (the hand shown in FIG. 2) while repositioning the first hand, but further adds to the complexity of the knot tying process.
Another knot tying process often encountered by fishermen and -women is splicing or joining two fishing lines together. A common example is joining a leader line to a thicker main line. The problems discussed above with respect to an end knot apply equally to a slice. That is, effective splice knots are typically complex, and handling the two lines to produce the knot is difficult due to the small line diameters and the stiffness of the lines. The apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,106,417, described above, can be used to tie a splice as well as an end knot. However, the splicing process still requires a hand-over-hand motion, and therefore involves a high degree of manipulation to produce the splice.
What is needed then is a way to simplify the process of tying a knot to attach a fishing hook to a line, or of splicing two lines together, and which results in a strong knot which will effectively secure the hook to the line or the two lines together.